Find eight different artists whose style I admire and whom I wish to influence me.

I saw a meme on a friend's devart recently, in which several clips of six or eight artists are arranged. Like a quick reference. Even cooler if the pictures are linked to the page of the artist, haha.

So, I will start by going through my ImagineFX magazines from the past year, and that will probably give me well over eight starting points. I'll narrow it down from there, based on what else the artist has done, and "how well it resonates withing me," of course.

So, onward.

!j

PS-Brit's headphones came in today. I have my own little corner with music going, and no longer have to listen to hours of guns shooting as she plays CoD. *sigh of relief*

The task ahead of me is to simply color in most of the sketches I have laying around, specifically the ones I've already scanned in the computer at least a year (or more) ago. Time to start "finishing things."

Well, I climbed out of my apartment this morning, to find a fresh blanket of snow, speckling the ground. It was one of those where it stuck -almost- everywhere, and it resembled the negative of a shadow, reflecting white, and showing where the coldest parts were.

I actually like this weather. Right around 30 degrees, a fresh snow that still leaves the roads drivable, albeit a but slushy. Now, later, when its -10 wind chill bullshit, no thanks! I'll be ready for spring, then!

Finding the energy and time to clear an area and keep it protected in order to create a sacred space has proved... difficult at best. I can point out many reasons, but after you cut the fat, it comes down to me just doing it.

Of course, I also feel equally drawn to travelling to some sacred ashram somewhere and just spending some time... doing that. Maybe that's just a pipe dream. I'd probably miss other things, and get bored...

Sage has been kickin' it with us since Thursday, and though we haven't "cut loose" the way we may have in highschool, what with having my own apartment and some cash to burn, and (currently) unemployed (I'm such a freakin' WINNER).... we still had a pretty good time. We are able to laugh and enjoy any situation we're in, for the most part. SO THAT'S GOOD!!!

Still working on arranging the apartment... the only bad night was a saturday when, for some reason, the bugs were just everywhere. We hadn't seen any all weekend, and TWO fell on my head from the ceiling. Here is a link to the centipedes we get down here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrataSo it fell on my head from the ceiling, while I was on le toilet... I smashed that fucker to pieces, but I was startled. Then... I went into the living room... sat down... and THIS fell on my head from the ceiling!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_house_spiderTHAT THING IS SCARY!!!! Not only can both of them move pretty freakin' fast, but the spider is known to be so aggressive as to hop onto your arms when you try to smash it, and to bite! FUCK.

I bought a big, expensive, badass dehumidifier in hopes to dry them out, but that thing will fill up in about five hours. MADNESS.... so I have several different kinds of bugspray, and I hate living in fear of something dropping from the ceiling ONTO me... not to mention that same night, we saw two other centipedes and another spider (different kind) plus several crickets (the least bothersome...)

Yeah, the rent is great for all this space, but is it worth it?!?!?!?!?!???!!!!!!!!!!!

Time will tell. And by that, I mean, we are SOOOO out of here when the lease is up. I'm already saving up to hire movers because I'm not dealing with that again... carrying all this stuff up through a hole in the deck... WHAT???? UGH, anyway... time to focus on school...

Remember that sweet basement apartment I was going crazy over? The guy had it narrowed down to us and another lady; he picked her. We were so sad.It was 375 a month, utilities included, and it was preeetttty big. Since we are allowed to use space-heaters in the winter, I thought the little burrow was just perfect.

Well, today, I got a text from him saying that the lady had to suddenly move to Indianapolis to take care of a family member. We are going to go look at the place again tomorrow, throw down a deposit, and sign the lease.

We got what we wanted, but somewhere, in Indianapolis, someone has fallen into ill health. :(

There were many arguments over this, trying to say which minority has it worse, and that sociology is so "1995" or some crap...Here's what I said.

I think it is a noble cause to want freedom and justice for all, to want equality for all humans. Without going into tiny spindles of arguments over who has it worse and why, I'd like to point out that money is the ultimate generator of inequality.

If you have more than you need, you are robbing it from somewhere else in the world by not sharing. There's more than enough to go around, but it is very unequally distributed. Most of the people doing the actual work get the lowest chunk of the income, while the "owner" does NO work, and reaps all the profit. I think that is where Mark's argument is coming from, because its true that a lot of rich white men own things. Big, expensive, money-generating things.

There is definitley a lot in society that needs to be changed, however, you'll have my total agreement on that...

I like to envision something like a Star Trek future. Sure, the space travel and exploration is pretty awesome, but if you look at their civilization on Earth, there is no longer a monetary system, and they are unified as one group, just all humans together, which seems really nice. They invented replicators, which can make anything you want out of a block of base matter, so no one has a need to try and trick each other out of their money (sales), or take something that they want by force... everyone is rather content as far as their desires are concerned, and the human race can focus on the stuff that ACTUALLY matters, like furthering medical technology, exploring surroundings, and bettering things for everyone, not just the "elite" that can afford it.

The thought of a one world government can be rather terrifying, if you look at all the negatives, however, it would also allow regulation to areas of the world that are suffering under disease, starvation, general poverty, and asshole dictators that don't give a shit about their people (North Korea anyone?).

It will take some serious self-reflection and growth of empathy and spirituality (not talking about religion here) for us to work towards a better world. We are all still stuck in a me-me-me mentality, and are very hedonistic. I mean, we are STILL using fossil fuels, still spending over 50% of our waking time working some crap job for some crap money so we can live somewhere and fill that place with stuff that makes life slightly more bearable... society needs a complete overhaul.

There is a reason why depression and anxiety pervade our nation, or for that matter, obesity and heart disease. We are not functioning properly because we are in unnatural cycles that are very destructive to ourselves and our environment. I can only hope that those IN power start to care about these things, or else we may soon see extinction, as we spread like a virus, destroying everything we touch.

Awareness that every single living thing MATTERS no more or less than anyone else will be what save us in the end, nothing less.

She said to me, "Before I left my mind went into Jo recording overdrive and it like reexmined everything about you.. and I forgot how gorgeous your eyes are up until I had to leave. That is so gay. But completly true."

My new years resolution is to lose 10 lbs. Classes are tuesdays/thursdays, and so are my lady's. I'm morning, she's evening, and we're ready to focus and study... Which I especially need to do with my CHEM 112 class. Still don't know what major I want. Still so very indecisive...Well, off to work, little pizza-maker.!j

This morning, my girlfriend was nervous about her job interview. She went through all her normal 'getting ready activities, straightening her hair, putting in her contacts, etc. All the while, thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong, and what other bad thing that would generate, and so on. Intermittently, she asked me a handful of questions about horse-back riding. The job she's interviewing for is Horse Trainer, at a local stable. They offered training, but also want to assess her riding level; the training is for taking wild, unbroken horses, and teaching them the English style of riding. Uber hot, but dangerous (perhaps adding to the hotness?)

"How do you make the horse stop?" She asks, probably already knowing, but double-checking an important piece of knowhow.

I reply, "Just pull back on the reigns, just don't pull -too- hard.."

"And how do you make him go?"

point to my heel. "You just nudge them, kind of in their hips," I take this opportunity to squeeze my lady's hip, "Don't kick them though, they'll start going -really- fast on you. The controls will make sense to you, its almost like driving a vehicle, ...except that the vehicle is a horse."Brittany nods, and continues on with her preparation. Her ipod is hooked up with my equalizer to the sound system; she plays her music in effort to relieve some stress. Her music is wide-ranged, and hard to describe, suffice to say 'tasteful.'

Off she goes. I sleep another two hours, and wake up to the dogs barking in the garage. Trashman's here. I notice its also eleven oh eight, and decide to go ahead and get up. I feed my Nesta (cat), brew up a couple cups of coffee, and start a load of laundry. A little while goes by, and I hear my brother shaving in the bathroom. He could never grow facial hair, but the few tufts that do grow take him about thirty seconds to shave down. I go stand in the bathroom doorway and ask, "Hey Aaron, what you doing?" "Shaving."

"No, I mean today. What are you doing today?"

'Work."

"Oh. I was going to ask if we could play two-player on your new army game. I wanted to check it out." He had pre-ordered some new, popular military game in which pre-ordering earned your night vision goggles, (but the game was like $150, so its quite obvious that you paid for them, and then some.) They were fairly interesting, but Brit and I had acquired a pair ourselves from the flee market fro 6$ (not the same modle as my brother's, but it was the same technology). "But I guess since you're going to work, I'll play one player. Is that okay?"

"Hmm..." he says, and I wait. I start thinking that maybe he doesn't want anyone to play his special army game, so I say, "Or maybe I could just check out Left for Dead 2, that'd be cool." He remains silent, and I wait several minutes before saying, "Aaron, is it okay? I'll play on my profile of course, ...and its all set up in the living room,... My brother is being very reluctant, and acting like this is a real hard decision. "Okay," I say, and return to the living room, starting up the computer.

Eventually, as he's going to leave for work, he stops in the doorway, addressing me on the computer,"Hey, I just don't want anyone playing on it." He says it in the way that someone would defend their opinion of the best ice cream flavor.

"Why?" I ask. I have five hours before I work what is probably the busiest day of the year (at the Sam's Club cafe, at least), and I'm thinking, 'oh great, he's going to be a dick about it. Awesome.'

He replies, with a sign, "That's just how I feel about it.," and quickly after, "I gotta go." Another sigh, and he walks out the door, closing it behind him. He treated me like a girlfriend who cheated, and then wanted to go to a dance together or something. It was quite weird, and off-putting. It left me angry, as a result of that feeling-mixture.

I had an interesting dream last night of a bear that swan in this huge greek-style fountain. It had recently been added to my old school (the private Lutheran one), which had suddenly been surrounded by a lovely, rolling grotto, of the softest grass. The bear ran about, but wasn't menacing or dangerous. I remember swinging on a long chain, the razor discs of which were perfect for standing on the flat sides, as I swung in wide arcs around the entire playground. I wrapped it several times, around the swings, the elevated climbing aparatus, and the climbing dome, before it would unwind, swinging quickly the whole time. I remember feeling the g-forces.

I'm not sure what i'll be up to, next, but I have work at four. I need to do something fun, or else I'll feel like a slave all day.

So I'm here at my girlfriend's mother's house... the baby Grace is getting a baptism, though the family is not religious at all. I think its a mixture of doing it for the effect of having a party, and maybe a bit of tradition. At any rate, its cool to visit, and Grace will just look a doll in her giant white floppy gown; apparently its the one Brit wore as a baby, and the one her mum wore as a baby, at their respective baptisms.

I just hope the priest is a true holy man that can bless the water. Personally, I'd rather dunk my baby in some water that has been sanctified by a buddhist monk instead. At least I know they have trained to focus their energy, as opposed to studied the dogma for recitation.... perhaps I judge too harshly. I shouldn't judge at all.

However, on campus today, there was a 'graffitti board' that a Jesus group (seriously, that's what they call themselves) put up as an 'experiment.' It said "I HATE RELIGION BECAUSE..." and there were paint pens left out for passersby to write whatever they wanted on the board... One guy drew venom's face, and there were of course, the usual comments, I'll just put the one's I remember... "the bible is a lie," "they say I'm going to HELL," " "I'm gay and you have no right to hate me!!" "guilt" "used to brainwashing!" and several about religion being used as a tool to control and as an excuse for killing etc. Like I said, the usual.

I just thought it was funny that it was automatically assumed that "religion" was "Christianity" even though it turned out that's what they were aiming for... On my way back from class, I kinda stopped and talked to some of them to see what their goal was and stuff... I just heard more of the usual! Its like, people try to "come at the bible from a different angle" but its an incomplete, poorly and overly translated, mishmashed collection of several peoples' writings. I think the whole idea of god should be from a different angle, not just the same old musty tome. I ended up standing around getting cold while they blathered about the same dogma I heard at my middle school for six years.

Yeah yeah... god made us in his image and all that. However, I will never worship a god that calls for blood sacrifice {talking about yahweh here, old testament god). Its evil, plain and simple. Whichever way you slice it, a loving god would never say, "Hey, kill that thing over there, in my name. And, uh... make it some kind of ritual so its more interesting."

Now Jesus was a cool guy, but I really want to know what he did from 12 to 33. They respond with, "well, he was probably just being a carpenter." Huh... yeah right. He WAS a man. I'm sure he had a lady and maybe even a family... I don't understand why that wouldn't be included. Maybe he had a gay lover and they just HAD to cut that out didn't they...

Now, I love me some esoterical sciencey stuff.... different dimensions and levels of consciousness, things unseen, bodiless "entities" and such... and that's what really motivates me to be very selective about what entity I would revere or send any power to. Certainly not a violent one that claims to be jealous and "righteously" killed lots of disobedient people. [The guy I was speaking to, in the course of his 15 minutes, told me on one hand that we could never do anything good enough to make god love us more, or do anything bad enough to make god love us less.. but when I brought up the old testament stuff, he said that god had to do something because people weren't listening..... what? and... why isn't he doing anything of the sort now, btw?]

In summary, I don't hate religion at all. I just think its pretty dang silly.

This week has been going soooo well, and I don't intend any sarcasm when saying that.

Two clock shops have donated to our costuming supplies, and we now have well over a hundred gears, several clock faces and hands, windup keys, chains, pendulums, and some et ceteras. So far, the costume sewing is 15% completed, having finished about 90% of Brit's blouse, though we've yet to make mine, both of our vests, and my jacket. Not to mention the modification of our accessories.

Also, we found a great health shop called SunSpot, which I find rather amusing because a sunspot is a point of extreme radiation on the sun, and that's ALSO where you can now get organic health food stuffs. They offer 20% off everything on Thursday. Shhhwwweeeeeeeeet.

I'm very excited about the camping this weekend. Campfires, good friends, and people dressed up as French colonists and Native Americans. There's cannons and blacksmiths and food that's been cooked on an open fire or in a cauldron. Tasty business, that.

All in all, my cold is gone, and I'm feelin' great! Let's hope this carries on :]

Anyway, enough of that nonsense. I'm returning to livejournal, as I find it makes me quite happy. I am hoping my dear B. N. King will join me, as I do love her writing. But we shall see.

Until then, we shall be showing some love to our yoga mats in the morning, and making sure to bob the string for Mandie, as it seems to be the sole purpose for her existence. (She can be found mewing sadly by her string in the middle of the night, when no one is around to entertain her.)

I've built up a lovely little collection of books, and (of course!) now have no time to read them. But winter break shall come soon enough....Currently loving school, and diving into the study of Chinese, which is just fascinating. I definitely prefer it to Japanese, in many ways.

I've stopped splitting my dreads when they try to grow together. I'm going to just let them merge; at this point, they probably need to stick together for strength, as they're so long. I'll keep them from becoming a monodread, of course, but if three little guys want to become a fat daddy, that's fine with me.

What else can be updated?Oh, well, I'm engaged. I suppose that's something.And we both live with my mother. I have no problem admitting that... its actually quite nice to have a family unit around. Like a pack. And I don't have to worry about my things being stolen out of a shitty apartment, which is always a plus... We're both in school, so it just makes sense. Our extra money can go towards comforts instead of rent. I think that works out rather nicely :DBut believe you me, when the time comes, I will be quite glad to spread my wings and start living in more than one room.

I have initiated recycling in the house I share with the family unit. Good so far.

I have 21 little bamboo plants growing in my small living space, one aloe plant, and soon, a lady palm. I wanted the tiny guy to hang from the ceiling, but they only had a giant 70 dollar ladypalm, which would obviously rip the ceiling down. Not good with winter coming on and all, so I opted to wait for the next order. (Who knows how long that will take?) Seems like the best possible choice for an indoor plant, however, as one would discover upon light research. (Go; see why you also need one in your house, and how easy it would be to take care of it)

Annnnnnd.... so far so good on the comic. Its running smoothly, when I get a free moment to work on it. But between all my classes, those free moments seem so rare... its always the case that when you have too much free time, you become bored and unmotivated, but when you've in a creative environment with multiple assignments and tests, you are stirred to be productive, creative, receptive of information that interests you (i.e. reading) but... you find that you haven't the time.

And to top all of it off, I'm almost over this cold. I have a beautiful fiance, and some bee total plus on the way! HUZZAH.To all, a good night.

It was no fluke that the Department of Homeland Security recently determined that Indiana had more potential terrorism targets than any other state.

After extensive supercomputer modeling and the consultation of every security agency including the US Postal Service, the department's classified report concluded that if the bad guys take out the Hoosier state, our entire democratic system will collapse.

As the "Crossroads of America,'' Indiana is a hotbed of sophisticated technology centers, fundamentalism, priceless cultural centers and basketball worship.

Although no one would comment on the record on the stunning finding that Indiana had twice as many targets than California and more than 30 percent more terrorist sites than New York City, the department was adamant about the importance of its findings.

``We factored in a number of key strategic variables that showed us how Indiana is a linchpin for life as we know it in America,'' said a person familiar with the report who didn't want to be identified. ``Hoosier culture is at the root of everything we call American.''

Take the Amish Country Popcorn stand, one of 8,591 sites chosen by the department as a top prospect for subversive activity. Sources close to the report have said the stand was a potential gathering point for fundamentalist cells. None of the five employees of the stand would comment on the record.

``What are those guys with the wagons up to?'' said the Homeland source. ``They don't use phones, internet or even blackberries. They could completely compromise our telecom network by taking out cellphone towers with those buggies. Popcorn is a perfect cover. Who would ever suspect them?

``It's well known in the counter-intelligence community that super-heated maize kernels are particularly effective projectile delivery systems,'' the source said. ``Have you ever been hit by one of those suckers? They're hot and they sting real bad. They could put your eye out."

The source went on to say that the department has its eyes on other seemingly harmless sites such as flea markets, ice cream parlors, Wal-Marts and tackle shops.

``Imagine the devastation they could cause if the terrorists started to put electric eels in bait shops and they ended up at beaches. It would be pure anarchy."

Several industrial targets made the Hoosier Homeland Security list, among them the sites for the long-defunct plants that made Studebakers and Duesenbergs. Indiana even boasts such high-tech landmarks as the birthplace of the headlight dimmer.

His voice rising with alarm, the source conceded that ``if terrorists ever had the level of technology of a Studebaker, I don't know if we could defend ourselves against that."

"Our intelligence estimate also found that if they obtained headlight-dimming technology, that could shut down all night-time road traffic throughout our country. If you were on an interstate driving at night, you wouldn't be able to see a semi barreling down on you. A guy in a Dodge Neon would be toast. Nobody thinks of a headlight dimmer as a weapon, but it can be a pretty potent one in the wrong hands."

While not generally known as an innovation mecca, Indiana was the birthplace of the transistor radio and the theme park.

``Transistors and theme parks," the source explained, ``are the backbone of our modern industrial society. Suppose they got a hold of those ideas and were able to compromise our entertainment infrastructure. Imagine guys walking around with big cartoon heads in costumes listening to sports talk stations and pretending to like children. Now that would be truly terrifying."

High-level concern was expressed that terrorists could attack cultural targets such as James Dean's birthplace or the Lyric Theater, where Frank Sinatra first performed with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The Raggedy Ann doll was also created in the state. And then there's the powerful connection between Hoosiers' mania for Notre Dame football and the all-American sport of basketball.

``Do you have any idea how well-organized and well-attended Indiana basketball tournaments are?" the source implored. "If they infiltrated the Hoosier basketball network, they'd have access to everything else, such as fast-food chains and weight-loss clinics. Think of what they could do with all of those pom-pon girls. This is something we've been studying intensively and the threat analysis quotient is off the Richter scale. No one would blink an eye if they turned up in Muncie in `Ball U' T-shirts."

``God, and if they go after iconic symbols of American culture such as James Dean, old blue eyes and Raggedy Ann," the source said as he started choking up, "I don't know what we'd do. Taking away the Fighting Irish and basketball from Hoosiers would clearly paralyze the heartland. It's hearts and minds theyâ€™re after."

Cultural targets abound in Indiana, which is why Homeland Security has assigned its top priority to the state. There's the town of Santa Claus, which receives more than a half-million letters a year. Rated even higher than the Midwest home of the jolly elf is the revered monument to the man who first combined pork and beans in a can: Indianapolis grocer Gilbert Van Camp.

"Every one knows how much they hate this symbol of our freedom, especially the pork part,'' the source sighed.

When asked how the department could effectively protect the thousands of ``assets'' in Indiana while not neglecting security for ports, refineries, nuclear power plants, skyscrapers and tunnels, the Homeland source simply threw up his hands and groaned, ``if we can't protect the birthplace of David Letterman and Red Skelton, our other efforts would be a laughing matter."

John F. Wasik is the author of The Merchant of Power (Palgrave, 2006), 9 other books and a columnist for Bloomberg News.